Outdoor lighting fixtures have been widely adopted for illuminating buildings, gardens, pathways, and entrance ways as the nighttime play of light on the landscape and vegetation can aesthetically pleasing as well as providing sufficient light for safely navigating an otherwise dark walkway. Additionally, such lighting provides enhanced security by eliminating hiding places and unobserved entry points for intruders. The most widely used outdoor lighting systems include one or more low voltage lighting fixtures that are connected to a 12 V transformer that is, in turn, connected to a standard 120 VAC line. Other types of lighting that are gaining popularity are solar powered, where the fixtures are connected by a cable to a solar collector panel that is located at a sunny location during daylight hours. Each lighting fixture generally includes housing, a lamp assembly having a halogen or conventional incandescent bulb and a reflector, and a lens or window. Many configurations are known for providing a variety of different lighting effects.
There are many gardens around the world that are meticulously well kept with many varieties of vegetation. People absorb the natural beauty and find comfort in the serene surroundings. Impressively large trees can be right next to small delicate plants. Gardens themselves can be massive in size, taking up many city blocks, or just a few square feet near a person's home. In any circumstance, once the sun goes down, these gardens are often bathed in darkness.
To combat this darkness, people have placed lights in their gardens, which can often have a dramatic effect. Further, signs have also been used in gardens to indicate particular directions or paths to those in the garden. In recent years, a popular product for homeowners has been a system of lights that are used to light a walkway leading up to the front door of a residence, to accent the border of a patio or outdoor space, or to decorate a yard or a garden. Others use the lights near a walkway as a safety precaution to properly direct those using the walkway onto its hard surface. These systems of lights are designed to use the commonly available 120 v AC electrical energy found in most U.S. residences.
Fixed light assemblies utilize conventional line voltage, which 120 v AC electrical energy commonly found in most U.S. residences. Fixed outdoor lighting line voltage assemblies are relatively permanent as such assemblies are built into walls, stairs or posts where varying inclinations of the light source produces directional or aesthetic effects. Such fixed light assemblies are expensive to manufacture as they require a weatherproofed construction for the outdoor application such as additional insulation, gaskets or other adaptations in order to operate in various weather conditions. Fixed light assemblies also have the additional cost associated with installation by the homeowner or professionals to local electrical codes.
Other outdoor line, light assemblies can be configured as portable, which are useful in applications requiring changing various aspects such as the location and/or the inclination of illumination.
Many outdoor lighting fixtures that are intended to be located at or slightly above ground level are provided with spikes that can be driven into the ground to provide an inexpensive and stable base for supporting the light. Other outdoor lighting systems feature a series of ground mounted holders or stakes having light bulbs and electrical cords extending therethrough or otherwise coupled thereto. The holders and bulbs, with their accompanying electrical cords are typically installed as a single, combined unit. Installation of such combined units often involves pressing the holders into the ground or digging a hole, installing the holders, then covering a portion of the holders with dirt or other material. Ground-mounted light-holding stakes can also be difficult to insert into the ground, such as in rough or rocky terrain.
In order to be most effective, ground-mounted light-holding stakes must be oriented so that the lights mounted thereon are level. Driving these stakes into the ground thus further requires that steps be taken so that the stake will support the light in a desired, level, manner. This problem is exacerbated when the ground is hard or contains rocks.
Currently, the means known to the inventor which are used to establish the desired orientation require the worker placing the stake to place a torpedo level on the stake to monitor the orientation of the stake. This is time consuming, especially if there are a great number of lights to be installed.
Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient means to monitor the orientation of a ground light supporting stake element during placement of that element.